His representatives confirmed the composer and poet died peacefully in London surrounded by his loved ones on Tuesday. Most critics have acknowledged him as one of the foremost interpreters of the works of Beethoven.

A statement from his spokesman added that Brendel would "be remembered and celebrated with deep gratitude by his family - partner Maria Majno, Irene Brendel, his children, Doris, Adrian, Sophie and Katharina, and his four grandchildren." The musician was also known as an acclaimed essayist and poet, with an irrepressible sense of humour. He often cited his first musical memory as "winding up a gramophone playing opera records, and trying to sing along to it".

Alfred Brendel was born on 5 Jul 1931 in Wiesenberg in northern Moravia (now the Czech Republic). He attributed his somewhat absurd view of the world to his experiences moving around with his parents in war-torn Austria. Unlike many successful musicians, none of his family were musical and he had no particular talent for the art when he was a child. Eventually he took piano lessons in then Yugoslavia and went to study at the Graz Conservatory in Austria.

Later in Lucerne, he took master classes with Edwin Fischer, the musician credited by Brendel with having the most enduring influence on him, and teaching him to play passionately within the bounds of classicism. Remarkably, this formal training ended at 16 and, apart from attending further master classes and listening to other pianists, he explored the possibilities of the piano on his own. "A teacher can be too influential," he once said. "Being self-taught, I learned to distrust anything I hadn't figured out myself."

He made his public performing debut at Graz in 1948, aged 17, and won the prestigious Concorso Busoni prize in Italy the following year. Originally a Liszt specialist, Brendel extended his repertoire to include the music of mainly central European composers, but purposely avoided modern music. (BBC/ Getty Images)